D
Derek Young
Guest
OFFENSE
The offense looked a lot better today and that was mainly because of the play of Skylar Thompson being vastly improved and playing a much inferior opponent. But, outside of the fluttering ball to Isaiah Zuber in the first half, his ball placement and accuracy was nearly exact the entire game. When he’s in a rhythm, good things happen.
Aside from that, his touchdown pass to Dalton Schoen was a thing of beauty and his touchdown run on the zone read was pretty as well.
Two more of his mistakes on the day were the sacks that he took. He tends to panic and not make optimal decisions when he isn’t decisive. That was what caused the second sack. The first sack was his hesitation to throw the ball to the left side, and instead of throwing it away, he attempted to reverse field and ran into trouble.
Delton came in after Thompson took the second sack. We didn’t love the timing of that and wish they had gone away from Skylar after something a little more positive to end the day on a good note and not feel like they were punishing him for poor play. Either way, no real harm done, though. Delton had a more productive performance this time around and threw a strike to Isaiah Zuber for a 72-yard score.
Alex Barnes was just ok. We still believe he’d be better running more downhill. But, in the zone scheme, he’s a bit limited because he takes a while to get going. He’s not an explosive back that can put in his foot in the ground and make one cut and go.
Justin Silmon blew his pass blocking assignments again in this contest. That is something to know moving forward. When he’s in the game, they’re going to become tendency-prone because he is a liability in passing situations.
The run game was far from dominant. The three running backs combined for 3.5 yards per carry.
We still love the idea of having two backs in the backfield together at the same time. It gives the defense a lot to think about and the versatility the Wildcats have back there can cause problems. They can also motion in and out, make checks easily and have a ton of options and constraint plays that they can build off of it. Those types of formations have proven to be quite effective for the offense this year, especially when it involves Dalvin Warmack (due to his threat as a runner and receiver).
Our staff did enjoy how they called the game, offensively. They implemented the short passing game and mixed it in with some other things that they like to run. They also used more parts of the field and made UTSA defend a lot more ground and to honor much more territory. Even Blaise Gammon received a ball in the middle of the field.
Kansas State also ran their first RPO (Run/Pass option) play during the third quarter of today’s contest. That is something they ran a lot more last year than they have this year at this point of the season. And something that could probably work with a dual-threat like Skylar Thompson.
The Wildcats did complete balls to seven different players today and all of that happened after a quarter and a half of play. Zach Reuter stretched the field on a vertical down the left sideline and Chabastin Taylor was the recipient of the first reception in the game.
Something to keep in mind may be how much K-State has struggled on second and short, which seems a bit random. Today, they were better, because of two long runs (by Skylar Thompson). But coming into today, they had run it five times on second and short for -1 yards.
DEFENSE
The defensive line was a bit of a mixed bag. We certainly loved the play of Wyatt Hubert once again. Not only does he continue to impact the game in multiple ways, both against the run and pass, but he appears to be fixing his mistakes, learning from them and also cutting down on his mental miscues and failed assignments.
In a year that has failed to be too exciting and has had sub-par defensive line play, Hubert has been the best.
Speaking of Hubert, we’d like to see him less on special teams. Despite being a defensive lineman, he plays on kickoffs, punts and the kick return unit. That’s a lot of additional snaps for your best defensive lineman who is now seeing more and more playing time. There were multiple drives that he was not inserted until later seemingly because of the special teams duties he was carrying out. Additionally, you wouldn’t want your best defensive lineman to be injured covering a kickoff in the third quarter of a game that you lead 41-7. But they ran the risk of that, anyways.
At the same time, it didn’t take much but the defensive tackles were better. That may have been due to the opponent. But at least we saw Trey Dishon making a few plays here and there. Unfortunately, they probably still lost way too many battles considering that they were playing UTSA. It is an underwhelming group, still. To be fair, Jordan Mittie probably played his best football of the season so far in the third quarter.
We’ll make it simple. Kansas State will benefit largely from an increased amount of snaps from Elijah Sullivan in place of Sam Sizelove. And if Sizelove can’t, they may need to consider Justin Hughes as well. Today was his first action but he played well enough to be in the discussion. He gets downhill much quicker. Actually, we think Hughes should play over Sizelove.
It wasn’t the best game for Walter Neil, either. Perhaps it is his size but he has struggled to tackle quite a bit. He also was the one that committed two penalties on one play in the end zone that helped keep a drive alive for the Roadrunners.
The secondary wasn’t tested a whole lot. The cornerbacks have played okay since week one. A.J. Parker was particularly impressive today. When the Roadrunners moved the ball, it was on the ground and up the middle because of how the defensive tackles were being displaced again.
Kansas State loves to blitz on third down. That isn’t the worst thing in the world. However, they have to get home from time to time and they aren’t right now. They’re doing enough to flush the quarterback out of the pocket or move him off the spot. But not getting home. That leaves the secondary susceptible and it caught the Wildcats a few times.
SPECIAL TEAMS
K-State opened the game with a poor punt by Andrew Hicks, both in distance and hang-time. It obviously contributed to a strong return by UTSA. Duke Shelley fumbled a kickoff. Shelley and Zuber had miscommunication on who was going to catch a kickoff.
But, Blake Lynch was nails. Again. And they fooled the Roadrunners on a punt, tricking them on who was actually catching the ball and it allowed a strong return from Zuber.
PERSONNEL
Denzel Goolsby, as we reported, did not play and was not at the game. Neither was tight end Nick Lenners, who is expected to miss the entire season.
Much to DY’s satisfaction, Wyatt Hubert got the start rather than Kyle Ball. Chris Nelson is on the bandwagon, too. They both are going as far to say that he may be the most impactful player on the entire defense, not just the defensive line. But that could change when Elijah Sullivan returns.
Eli Walker played for the injured Denzel Goolsby. Jordan Mittie notched another start at defensive tackle, rather than Joe Davies. And the jet defensive line today was Boom Massie, Kyle Ball, Reggie Walker and Wyatt Hubert.
Kevion McGee didn’t play and was not dressed out in pads. That has to be concerning moving forward because he was playing well. The other players that saw the field instead of him were far from as impressive as he was.
Justin Hughes was the second linebacker in nickel situations on passing downs and played a ton in the second half. Sam Sizelove was still the second linebacker in nickel situations on running downs. Cody Fletcher joined Sizelove and Da’Quan Patton on the field when they played a typical 4-3 defense.
Hughes seemed to play much more than Sizelove in the second half, even before they emptied the bench. When they did empty the bench, Eric Gallon was inserted but did not show very well.
Anthony Payne and Jacob Jenkins saw time along the defensive line at the end of the game. Payne, interestingly enough, played defensive tackle.
Lance Robinson is the one and only true freshman to see the field. He played the nickel in the fourth quarter.
Walk-on receiver Wykeen Gill saw the field in the second quarter. This is the second game where he has seen action, early. Josh Rivas played much less in this contest but did check in for Tyler Mitchell towards the end of the second quarter.
The receivers once they emptied the bench were Landry Weber, Dylan Wentzel and Eric Hommel. It shows that Weber is not injured but makes it even more surprising that he hasn’t even seen the field on special teams. It’s also rather eye-catching that four walk-ons saw the field at receiver before D.J. Render.
Nick McLellan was given the kickoffs in the second half. His kicks do tend to have much more distance than those of Lynch.
The offense looked a lot better today and that was mainly because of the play of Skylar Thompson being vastly improved and playing a much inferior opponent. But, outside of the fluttering ball to Isaiah Zuber in the first half, his ball placement and accuracy was nearly exact the entire game. When he’s in a rhythm, good things happen.
Aside from that, his touchdown pass to Dalton Schoen was a thing of beauty and his touchdown run on the zone read was pretty as well.
Two more of his mistakes on the day were the sacks that he took. He tends to panic and not make optimal decisions when he isn’t decisive. That was what caused the second sack. The first sack was his hesitation to throw the ball to the left side, and instead of throwing it away, he attempted to reverse field and ran into trouble.
Delton came in after Thompson took the second sack. We didn’t love the timing of that and wish they had gone away from Skylar after something a little more positive to end the day on a good note and not feel like they were punishing him for poor play. Either way, no real harm done, though. Delton had a more productive performance this time around and threw a strike to Isaiah Zuber for a 72-yard score.
Alex Barnes was just ok. We still believe he’d be better running more downhill. But, in the zone scheme, he’s a bit limited because he takes a while to get going. He’s not an explosive back that can put in his foot in the ground and make one cut and go.
Justin Silmon blew his pass blocking assignments again in this contest. That is something to know moving forward. When he’s in the game, they’re going to become tendency-prone because he is a liability in passing situations.
The run game was far from dominant. The three running backs combined for 3.5 yards per carry.
We still love the idea of having two backs in the backfield together at the same time. It gives the defense a lot to think about and the versatility the Wildcats have back there can cause problems. They can also motion in and out, make checks easily and have a ton of options and constraint plays that they can build off of it. Those types of formations have proven to be quite effective for the offense this year, especially when it involves Dalvin Warmack (due to his threat as a runner and receiver).
Our staff did enjoy how they called the game, offensively. They implemented the short passing game and mixed it in with some other things that they like to run. They also used more parts of the field and made UTSA defend a lot more ground and to honor much more territory. Even Blaise Gammon received a ball in the middle of the field.
Kansas State also ran their first RPO (Run/Pass option) play during the third quarter of today’s contest. That is something they ran a lot more last year than they have this year at this point of the season. And something that could probably work with a dual-threat like Skylar Thompson.
The Wildcats did complete balls to seven different players today and all of that happened after a quarter and a half of play. Zach Reuter stretched the field on a vertical down the left sideline and Chabastin Taylor was the recipient of the first reception in the game.
Something to keep in mind may be how much K-State has struggled on second and short, which seems a bit random. Today, they were better, because of two long runs (by Skylar Thompson). But coming into today, they had run it five times on second and short for -1 yards.
DEFENSE
The defensive line was a bit of a mixed bag. We certainly loved the play of Wyatt Hubert once again. Not only does he continue to impact the game in multiple ways, both against the run and pass, but he appears to be fixing his mistakes, learning from them and also cutting down on his mental miscues and failed assignments.
In a year that has failed to be too exciting and has had sub-par defensive line play, Hubert has been the best.
Speaking of Hubert, we’d like to see him less on special teams. Despite being a defensive lineman, he plays on kickoffs, punts and the kick return unit. That’s a lot of additional snaps for your best defensive lineman who is now seeing more and more playing time. There were multiple drives that he was not inserted until later seemingly because of the special teams duties he was carrying out. Additionally, you wouldn’t want your best defensive lineman to be injured covering a kickoff in the third quarter of a game that you lead 41-7. But they ran the risk of that, anyways.
At the same time, it didn’t take much but the defensive tackles were better. That may have been due to the opponent. But at least we saw Trey Dishon making a few plays here and there. Unfortunately, they probably still lost way too many battles considering that they were playing UTSA. It is an underwhelming group, still. To be fair, Jordan Mittie probably played his best football of the season so far in the third quarter.
We’ll make it simple. Kansas State will benefit largely from an increased amount of snaps from Elijah Sullivan in place of Sam Sizelove. And if Sizelove can’t, they may need to consider Justin Hughes as well. Today was his first action but he played well enough to be in the discussion. He gets downhill much quicker. Actually, we think Hughes should play over Sizelove.
It wasn’t the best game for Walter Neil, either. Perhaps it is his size but he has struggled to tackle quite a bit. He also was the one that committed two penalties on one play in the end zone that helped keep a drive alive for the Roadrunners.
The secondary wasn’t tested a whole lot. The cornerbacks have played okay since week one. A.J. Parker was particularly impressive today. When the Roadrunners moved the ball, it was on the ground and up the middle because of how the defensive tackles were being displaced again.
Kansas State loves to blitz on third down. That isn’t the worst thing in the world. However, they have to get home from time to time and they aren’t right now. They’re doing enough to flush the quarterback out of the pocket or move him off the spot. But not getting home. That leaves the secondary susceptible and it caught the Wildcats a few times.
SPECIAL TEAMS
K-State opened the game with a poor punt by Andrew Hicks, both in distance and hang-time. It obviously contributed to a strong return by UTSA. Duke Shelley fumbled a kickoff. Shelley and Zuber had miscommunication on who was going to catch a kickoff.
But, Blake Lynch was nails. Again. And they fooled the Roadrunners on a punt, tricking them on who was actually catching the ball and it allowed a strong return from Zuber.
PERSONNEL
Denzel Goolsby, as we reported, did not play and was not at the game. Neither was tight end Nick Lenners, who is expected to miss the entire season.
Much to DY’s satisfaction, Wyatt Hubert got the start rather than Kyle Ball. Chris Nelson is on the bandwagon, too. They both are going as far to say that he may be the most impactful player on the entire defense, not just the defensive line. But that could change when Elijah Sullivan returns.
Eli Walker played for the injured Denzel Goolsby. Jordan Mittie notched another start at defensive tackle, rather than Joe Davies. And the jet defensive line today was Boom Massie, Kyle Ball, Reggie Walker and Wyatt Hubert.
Kevion McGee didn’t play and was not dressed out in pads. That has to be concerning moving forward because he was playing well. The other players that saw the field instead of him were far from as impressive as he was.
Justin Hughes was the second linebacker in nickel situations on passing downs and played a ton in the second half. Sam Sizelove was still the second linebacker in nickel situations on running downs. Cody Fletcher joined Sizelove and Da’Quan Patton on the field when they played a typical 4-3 defense.
Hughes seemed to play much more than Sizelove in the second half, even before they emptied the bench. When they did empty the bench, Eric Gallon was inserted but did not show very well.
Anthony Payne and Jacob Jenkins saw time along the defensive line at the end of the game. Payne, interestingly enough, played defensive tackle.
Lance Robinson is the one and only true freshman to see the field. He played the nickel in the fourth quarter.
Walk-on receiver Wykeen Gill saw the field in the second quarter. This is the second game where he has seen action, early. Josh Rivas played much less in this contest but did check in for Tyler Mitchell towards the end of the second quarter.
The receivers once they emptied the bench were Landry Weber, Dylan Wentzel and Eric Hommel. It shows that Weber is not injured but makes it even more surprising that he hasn’t even seen the field on special teams. It’s also rather eye-catching that four walk-ons saw the field at receiver before D.J. Render.
Nick McLellan was given the kickoffs in the second half. His kicks do tend to have much more distance than those of Lynch.
